New Nordic Ways to Green Growth (NOWAGG)

In order to understand how progress is made and can be made on green growth, there is an urgent need to study, and make the best possible use of experiences from the Nordic countries that are regarded world-wide as pioneers in environmentally friendly technologies and innovations. This project aims at doing that.

OECD indicators on green growth show that Nordic countries as a group annually develop about 33% more novel environmental technologies per capita than the average of OECD countries, meaning that Nordic countries provide an excellent laboratory for studies of green growth.

The collaboration in NOWAGG will bring together Nordic researchers who have various disciplinary backgrounds, yet are highly experienced in working across boundaries and in effective interdisciplinary team-working.

Challenges are facing Nordic countries following a long period of globalization, which has tapped regional centers for many of their traditional industries and trades, and focused economic growth in the largest cities. A trajectory for green growth offers some important prospects for making economic developments more fair and inclusive, notably if a low-carbon transition towards more intensive utilization of domestic resources of biomass as a base for industrial production and export of high value commodities is pursued. The uptake and upscaling of green technologies is however a major challenge, technologically, financially and economically. The NOWAGG project endeavors to identify critical bottlenecks, explore the development and impact of EU policies, and to provide strategically very much needed insights. It will provide policymakers with new options for future developments, which also can prove useful to respond to the challenges of Nordic welfare systems.

The results from the project will be useful both in a Nordic and in a global context to support low-carbon developments and green growth that is inclusive. The obtained expertise will make the research teams even more attractive partners in future research consortiums at European level in relation to calls under EUs Horizon 2020 etc.